Who are the Consumers?

It can pay to consider who the consumers of goods and services are when buying investments. For example, the number of people who have their own phone today as compared to when I was born in 1951 has changed dramatically. This change has happened globally. Therefore, I think investing in the companies that provide the tools and connectivity for mobile phone users is a wise strategy. For that reason, I own shares of AAPL, T, VZ and CCI. (Crown Castle International Corp.  is a REIT.) Even my three granddaughters are connected. When our children lived at home, we had one phone. It was either being used as a phone, or as a terribly slow connection to the mainframe computer at Universal Foods in Milwaukee where I worked for 23 years.

We are getting older and this changes our needs.

Another category of consumers are old people, like me. I’ve noticed that most of the people I knew 40 years ago are older now. They were 25 at one time, and now they are 65. I’ve also noticed that we spend money differently. Cindie and I spend far more now for vision care, dental care, medical care, chiropractic care, physical therapy care and for home improvements. Someday we might also be paying for in-home care or care in a wonderful facility like BeeHive Homes of Oregon, Wisconsin. The owners of BeeHive know they can provide loving care for their residents. But they also know their real estate and services can provide income.

Cindie and I are very familiar with this care provider. BeeHive Homes of Oregon is outstanding.

Real Estate for an Aging Population

One way to participate in the growth and income of this growing group of old timers is to invest in a REIT like CTRE. I recently purchased 100 shares of CTRE (after selling some of my AAPL shares), and then added another 100 shares. The reasons are many, but I will share a few of them.

CareTrust REIT, Inc. (CTRE) is a self-administered, publicly traded real estate investment trust engaged in the ownership, acquisition, development and leasing of skilled nursing, seniors housing and other healthcare-related properties. With a nationwide portfolio of long-term net-leased properties, and a growing portfolio of quality operators leasing them, CareTrust REIT is pursuing both external and organic growth opportunities across the United States.

CTRE has a wonderful REITRATING on Reitnotes.com.

The overall REITRATING SCORE for CTRE is 8.3. It is easy to see why.

There are good dividend income and dividend growth reasons to own CTRE. The payout ratio, current yield and growth trends are favorable.

Another situation I don’t often see is A-B ratings for dividend relative grades.

Seeking Alpha also shows CTRE having bullish recommendations from all three categories of analysts. There aren’t too many investments that have that characteristic.

It isn’t often I see this much green for ratings for any investment. CTRE shines. The QUANT rating, in my opinion, is the most important of the three.

Full Disclosure

I currently own 200 shares of CTRE and may buy more if the price drops below my current cost basis. CTRE and BeeHive Homes are not related. I only use BeeHive as an illustration of a wonderful business model for care giving services.